he promised to aid him in his need.

"But swear to me first," he said, "by the gods above and below, and by those who preside over mortal men, and by the Furies that avenge perjuries, that thou wilt give me the kine of King Neleus, and thou shalt have a son to sit on thy throne."

Iphiclus sware the dreadful oath; and Melampus told him that which he asked. Then he released the kine, and the soothsayer drove them southwards. Bias received them with joy, and yielded them up to Neleus. And beautiful Pero was given him for his bride, and the gods blessed their marriage.

OLD King Ægeus reigned in Athens. He had conquered many enemies, and he was dearly loved by his people. There was but one thing that interrupted his prosperity, and made every ninth spring a time of mourning in Athens. Minos, king of Crete, received a tribute from Ægeus every nine years; not a tribute of gold and silver, which it had been easy to pay, but a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens, who were torn from their parents and friends, sent into a foreign country, and there exposed to be eaten by the Minotaur. This was a dreadful monster, half man, half bull; and none, that was given to be his food, had ever escaped from his fury.

Ægeus had a son, by name Theseus.

He was

a young prince of a courageous heart; and he could not endure that his fellow-countrymen should suffer from so dreadful a slavery. So he went, on a day, to his father Ægeus, and thus spake to him :

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My father, the time draws nigh when Athens must send her tribute to Crete. Even now there is grief and fear among the best families of the city; even now, mothers are clasping their daughters to their breasts, and weeping over them; and fathers look on their sons, as yet in all the pride of youth, and think how soon they may be rent in pieces by a ravenous and unsparing monster. Hear me now; it is our wont, as thou knowest, to cast lots for those that must go. Let us do, as we are accustomed, for the maidens, and for six of the youths; for the seventh I freely offer myself. If ever I reign in Athens, I will reign as a free king: if I cannot deliver my people, I can at least perish for them."

King Ægeus looked on his son, and knew not whether to joy or to sorrow. He feared to lose him in the pride of his strength; but the love of his people prevailed. "Go forth, my son," he said, "and the immortal gods protect you. For me, till you return I shall not know one happy

hour: shorten, therefore, as far as you can, the time of my sorrow. It is our custom that the ship which bears my subjects to Crete, should carry black sails. If you return with triumph, let them be white ;—if they are still black, I shall know too well what hath befallen."

Theseus promised as his father bade, and went out into the city. The Athenians, when they heard of the courage of their prince, gave him a thousand blessings. They hardly dared to hope that he would conquer; and yet they hardly knew how to fear that he could fail. The day came. The black vessel lay at anchor in the harbour: the chosen youths and maidens came down to the sea-shore; and their friends, while they wept bitterly, could not weep inconsolably. Theseus came down from the palace, and Ægeus, king of men. The signal was given the rowers bent to their oars, the trireme cleft her way through the waters; the crowd on the shore grew small as specks; the shore itself, the cliffs, and the hills, faded into the blue distance, and still the vessel sped onwards to her journey's end.

Crete is in sight. First a long line of coast rose from the sea; then mountains swelled above the valleys, and hills took form and shape; then trees were seen on the downs, and houses by the

side of the roads. And lastly, Gnossus, the royal city, beautiful with its hundred temples, glowed red in the setting sun.

Then there was wailing among the maidens, and silent terror among the youths. Only Theseus was firm and calm. He looked well to his armour, and saw that his sword was bright. His helmet was of dog's skin, plated and wrought with brass. For its crest it had a winged horse: its cheek-pieces were sculptured with the deeds of Zeus; and the penthouse frowned horribly over the eye. His brazen mitré, or shirt of mail, shone like the sun; he had his zone and brigandine; and his thorax, or breastplate, was coupled with studs of gold.

They told king Minos that the strangers were come, as he sat with his nobles at the banquet. "Give them good cheer," he said, "to-night, and lodge them well in my palace. To-morrow they

I will have crossed the river whence there is no return, and be judged by gloomy Dis."

"Be of good cheer, companions and friends," said Theseus, the equal of the gods. "We shall yet escape, by the favour of Zeus, and return to sea-girt Attica, and to Ægeus, king of men."

Apart in her chamber sat Ariadne, the goldenhaired daughter of Minos. She had heard of the